Wisconsin!! The Dells, Door County! Boulder Junction!

July 5th, we drove to Wisconsin Dells. TOURIST CITY! Wow, I don't know what I expected, but not this! It's great, it's just exactly like Pigeon Forge, or Branson, or even International Drive in Orlando! Hotels! Mini Golf! Motels! Roller Coasters! Water Parks! Restaurants! One tourist attraction after another, with shops and "get your money" type places every where you turn. I can see why families with kids love to spend their vacation here, as there is no end of things to do, but I'm just as glad we're only here for a couple days. I guess we're not your typical tourists.

We arrived at our KOA ($75 a night) and we're in the heart of everything! We could even walk to take a roller coaster ride, haha. This park reminds me of the Music City KOA we stayed at in Branson, with different levels. You could be on one level and look down at the roof of your neighbor's RV on a lower level. Where we are right now though is just across from the pool/splash park area, so we're on level ground just near the office.

Wishing our grandkids were with us - they'd love this pool and splash park!

We decided to take a drive downtown to check out what we might want to do tomorrow as being here such a short time, we'll have to be very choosy. But see from these pictures what I mean? Doesn't it look like Pigeon Forge?

Our oldest son, Jason and his family lived in Green Bay for several months when they were traveling, and they used to come to Wisconsin Dells for day trips. Jason said there was an awesome water park called Noah's Ark they really enjoyed, so Jason these pictures are for you - a trip down Memory Lane. Wish you were here!
 

We had picked up a bunch of information, and we think this is what we'll do tomorrow - take a tour on the original Wisconsin Ducks!

It's quite the place, isn't it? See what I mean? We're looking forward to tomorrow - should be a fun day!

Thursday, July 6 -  We took our tour today, our fun adventure on land and water. When the original Wisconsin Ducks made their debut in 1946, it was the realization of a dream for the visionaries who created it. When they came to this beautiful land, they recognized the unique and vast array of scenic wonders here in remote canyons and narrow waterways, and they felt the "Duck" was the best vehicle to take advantage of the beauty of both the land and the water. We really enjoyed it! We had a great tour guide, who while admittedly, told the world's corniest jokes, was really knowledgeable of the area and we learned a lot of the history of this beautiful place! It was more an adventure than a tour. ha

The duck tour's own history began at the end of World War II, when many of the DUKWs were sold as army surplus and several were brought to the Dells for sightseeing, and so it continues today....

Our trail began on a sandy area that was once the floor of Glacial Lake Wisconsin. Rows of granite figures were on our left and we learned that these bas-reliefs, gargoyles and columns once graced the Chicago Board of Trade Building. When it was demolished back in the 30's, they were brought here to decorate a property (I forget who's property) on Lake Delton, and were later taken to Dawn Manor, where you'll see a picture soon...
 

We took a lengthy tour of the forests in the area, surrounded by lush greenness everywhere, trees, foliage, and thousands of beautiful ferns. Our guide, while young, was skilled at driving, as we plunged down steep ravines, swerving around rocky areas, and several times I thought it was quite similar to a roller coaster. Let's just say I experienced that feeling of "lost my stomach" a few times. 
 

Then suddenly we came out of the forest and plunged onto the beach at Echo Point, and our driver engaged the propellers and steered us into the main channel. We are now a boat! Very cool!
 

Then a short time later we were back in the forest again! Then back in the water. What an unusual tour! Fascinating!

Of  course, if you believe the tour guide, these rocky cliffs are more than 500 million years old. Hmmm I won't go into my thoughts on that. But aren't they beautiful?

The Dells had always been the home of the Native American people, and was the home of the Yellow Thunder's tribe, the Ho-Chunk people. Wonder how they got that name? Maybe they were really chunky?

This is known as Pulpit Rock and legend has it that an old preacher used to stand on these points and preach to the Indians as they went by in their canoes. 

A little windblown here, but always having fun!
 

We braced ourselves as the duck hurtles down the ramp (making a splash that got everyone a little wet!) and plunges us into Lake Delton. Here we see one of the more than 200 dams along the Wisconsin River.

In the spring of 2008, torrential rain pounded the Midwest and in the Wisconsin Dells, reached over 50" above flood stage! Yikes! They kept watching for breaches along the dams, and they had a huge breach, but not at the dam here. Water began streaming over the highway just above the Wisconsin River which was just 800 feet from the lake. A waterfall more than 200 feet wide ate away the soil and the last of the earth between the river and the lake gave way, opening a 400 foot wide channel, and in less than two hours, Lake Delton was gone taking with it 600 million gallons of water, a huge section of the highway and 5 homes were destroyed. Can you imagine what that must have been like? It left nothing but mud! But restoration began immediately and without remembering all the details, in less than a year, the highway was reopened!
 

This is Dawn Manor, first built in 1855 by Captain Vanderpoel, who led a regiment in the Civil War, was a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, and was an original signer of the Wisconsin Constitution. He built this amazing home for his large family. If you're interested you should google this - fascinating history here! It, of course, has had several different families own it but still stands today and is very impressive. 
 

Then we crossed back onto land....

On our return, going through the forest, we went through this narrow passage. Our duck was 8' wide and this passage was only 8'4" wide! YIKES!! Let's just say I didn't leave my arm hanging out!

And lest you think all we do is have fun and everything is rosy.....we stopped to get a drink, and had to pull over to wait, since the drive through was really busy. We had the windows down and had turned the car off while we waited. We got our drinks, and got ready to go. Car dead as a doornail! Ugh ... double ugh!  Earl always has booster cables so he got a guy in the parking lot to come over and boost us. We headed to WalMart for a new battery! I was of course bored sitting around the auto center, but amused myself by reading all the FB comments about our WalMart time by all my crazy friends. They had all kinds of ideas on how to pass the time, like giving the greeters a potty break and we do their job, and taking the electric carts around and pretend we were on our golf cart, and on and on....such fun, crazy friends I have!

Before heading back to the RV, we stopped and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Mexicali Rose on the River. We sat on the patio and this was my view as I enjoyed my shrimp quesadilla!

On the other side of the patio were these amazing HUGE baskets of petunias! Talk about a lot of bang for your buck. This wall of beauty was impressive!

 

Just before we left, we had an interesting young man come up to our table and performed a magic demonstration. He was GOOD! I am amazed at how on earth this kind of illusion is done! I chose 3 cards, and he had Earl sign one - (he had him sign as PopPop, he loved Earl's shirt that said "My favorite people call me PopPop!" The 3 cards were still in my hand, and he took Earl's card and shuffled the deck and then asked me to turn over my 3 cards. I did and the card Earl signed was IN MY HAND! Whaaaaat? Crazy!! He gave us his card, and I told him when he goes on America's Got Talent and wins, I'll remember that we saw him here!

Friday, July 7 - We got the RV all ready for the road as today is a travel day. We each have our check lists - mine inside, Earl's outside, and the last thing we do is check the lights. He stands back behind the car, and we check in order, the 4 way lights, the left signal, right signal, and finally the brakes. The lights apparently worked fine, but as soon as I pressed the brakes, they felt flat/spongy, and did not have the normal whoosh sound, so I told Earl. He came in to check and sure enough, NO AIR PRESSURE! We had no brakes! Double/triple ugh!!! Earl went into the KOA office and they knew a great diesel mechanic and he came out in less than 30 minutes (which was a miracle in itself!) He said the mosture release valve was leaking air and not allowing pressure to build, so the main function of some of that was for being in below freezing weather. He said if we weren't going to be in freezing temps, he could bypass the valve, and have it fixed when we get home, but as long as we were in mild temps (which we will be!) he said it wasn't even necessary to fix!  We assured him we wouldn't be, so he did his thing, and in just over an hour, we were on our way! We were $220 poorer, but hey, you gotta have brakes!
Thanking God for watching over us!

Pretty journey - beautiful farms....
 

We drove through Green Bay and thought of you, Jason! And then drove through Oshkosh. This water tower that says Oshkosh is my only proof we were there. Ha

 

We arrived in Bailey's Harbor, and we're staying at Beantown Campground ($48 night). Typical campground, definitely not a luxurious park, but it has cable and wi-fi and we won't be here much anyway. We had not even intended to come to this area, but when we were in Cadiz, KY, our next door neighbors were from WI and when they found out we were coming to WI, they said we just HAD to come to Door County, that it was NOT to be missed! So we decided to come on over here. That's the fun thing about the way we travel - we just go wherever we want.

This shows you where we are on the peninsula. It was only 71 when we got here! And quite windy so brrrr time for a jacket! I know my FL family and friends would love to trade places with us!

 

We really wanted to get a car wash. You cannot believe how grimy the car gets being towed behind the RV. It's yucky and I can't stand to even drive in it like that. We always have to use the wiper fluid and use the wipers enough to see out. So we did that and headed into town to see if we could find a car wash. What a pretty little town! We got out and walked around to see what's here and to find someone to ask about a car wash. Google said there's one like 2 hours away!

This is the roof of City Hall/Library in Bailey's Harbor. I looked up and wondered what in the world all those metal pointy thingies were.... they are there to help keep snow from sliding off onto the sidewalks! Whoa! I'm glad I'm not here in the winter. We don't have to worry about things like that!
 

Very friendly people here! Love it! We were told by two people where to go for a car wash - Sister's Bay about 10 miles. I think the whole peninsula is only about 40 miles and 10-15 minutes between the towns and talk about scenic drives! For my friends at home, it's like a whole series of little Mount Doras one after another!  FUN! So here's some scenes from the Peninsula.
 

Ok, I only included this photo to tell a story. We finally found this car wash we'd been told about in Sister Bay. It looked completely closed! Weeds growing out of the CLOSED doors! Weeds all around. Looked like it hadn't been used in years. There were doors on both entrance and exit, but Earl decided to go in and ask, since 2 people had sent us there. So the guy says sure, they keep it closed, but with the code entered it would open. So we paid the $10 and sure enough the door opens. Just wanted you to see the pitiful little dribble of water we got out of this touchless car wash! Grrrr we went through the dryer at the end and we left looking exactly like we went in, needing a car wash! I almost went in and asked for a refund, but didn't. Oh well....I sure miss our awesome car wash in Mount Dora.

Saturday, July 8th - a picture perfect day! Temps ranged between 69-74, bright and sunny! You just couldn't ask for more perfect weather. We just toured the Peninsula today... Sister Bay, Ephraim, Egg Harbor, Ellison Bay - wow, the beauty of this place! Reminds me a little bit of Maine! 

This is the road going up to Ellison Bluff, a lookout point in Ellison Bay. Can you see how curvy the road is? And such pretty green trees!

Ellison Bluff

We met this guy who took our picture, when he asked us where we were from. We told him Florida, and we asked and he's from "right here!" Lived here all his life and LOVES it!  I asked about the winters and he loves them too! He said they cross country ski and snowshoe in the winters and hike and bike and boat in the summers. Does sound kind of cool, but I know how much I don't like cold weather, so pretty sure it's not for me, but I could sure imagine spending summers here!

Back to Sister Bay for lunch at the Boathouse, a beautiful restaurant overlooking the Bay. Gorgeous weather, yummy food, perfect lunch companion. I could not ask for anything more, except maybe for some family and close friends to share all this with...sigh.
 

We were amazed as we walked by this restaurant....those are GOATS on a GRASS ROOF! Pretty cool, huh?

 

We wanted to get some cheese and literally everyone told us the best place was to go right to the farm and there's a store right there to make purchases, so we headed on back to Sturgeon Bay to Renard's Cheese!
 

CHEESE CURDS - hot, melty cheese - YUM!!!

We went back to the RV for a short rest and because we'd just had those cheese curds, we were not at all hungry, so we just read for a little while. Then changed into jeans and jackets to head over to Fish Creek to the Northern Sky Theater where we saw an awesome outdoor production. It was 69 degrees, but fortunately not windy, so it just felt perfect! I didn't even wear my jacket!

The Outdoor Theater was in the Peninsula State Park. This was a night I'll never forget. We were not allowed to take any photos....booooo but they wouldn't have captured the moment anyway.
 

 They perform four shows all summer long. We love attending these - the Lost Colony in Manteo, NC, near my childhood home, Unto These Hills in Cherokee, NC and Texas, in Amarillo.... and others we've seen - always extremely well done and nothing like seeing them live outdoors "under the northern sky!"

Tonight's performance was Victory Farm, the musical story of a cherry farm right here in Ellison Bay. The time is early 1940's before the end of the war. The woman's husband had been killed in the war and she and her daughter were left to try to maintain the cherry farm. Impossible for 2 women, so they got help from 3 prisoner's of war, German men who lived in the bunkhouse, and picked cherries by day. WHAT A GREAT STORY! I won't spoil it for you in case you ever have a chance to see it, but it was a wonderful, inspirational story with stellar acting and singing.  

This is NOT a good photo, but you just would not believe the moon tonight. I wish I had the kind of camera to capture it, my phone just won't do it. The brightest, fullest moon I've ever seen!

Today was supposed to be rainy all day, but this morning it had all changed till rain not coming in until around 2:00. I don't think they have a clue what they're talking about most of the time. We decided to go back to Ellison Bay for breakfast - we sat right at the table with the umbrella you see here! Beautiful morning! 

We were chatting with our server, and she asked where we were from. We told her FL and she said, "oh, me too!" We asked where, and she said, "Oh, a little town, you've probably never heard of - called Apopka!" We laughed and then talked about Apopka and Altamonte and Mount Dora, Eustis and Tavares...she was thrilled to talk to someone from home. haha We asked her how she'd ended up here, and she met a guy from WI and he brought her here in the summer and she fell in love with WI, but then winter came, and that first one was a mild winter, and she decided it wasn't so bad, but they've gotten worse every year. But she's adjusted and really loves it here now! Interesting. You never know who you're going to meet!

We had been seeing these orchards all over, and just casually assumed they were apple trees.  We asked about them with the server we were taking with this morning, and she said they're CHERRY trees! Which made total sense after seeing Victory Farm last night!
 

As we came back through Sister Bay, there were even more goats on the roof, just munching away on the grass up there. Wonder who first thought to plant grass on their roof and keep goats up there? There's likely a story there....

It was looking rainy, so we came on back to the RV and read all afternoon, in between working on this blog (you'd really be amazed at how much time it takes), but it'll be worth it when we're old and can't go all over the country and we can "remember when...." 

Sunday, July 9th

It was rainy this afternoon, so we just enjoyed reading and working more on my blog. Tomorrow is a travel day.

Monday, July 10th - Today we drove to Boulder Junction, WI. What a beautiful drive!

You know, RV parks make me think of Forest Gump when he made that now famous remark about chocolates - well RV parks are like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get. A couple times, last time, they were very forgettable. This park Camp Holiday is a winner! It's huge, 228 sites and appears almost haphazardly laid out - I love that it's not straight streets with RVs just lined up in a row. 

When Earl went in to check us in, he came back and said the lady had said "You've got mail!" and YAY! It's our new CD of our friend, David Darnell's beautiful music. I have practically worn out his first one, and this is hot off the press! So excited to have it!

Here we are all set up, and you can see, we have a huge site with a large green lawn. This stay is purposely meant to be a few down days, we've been fairly busy, and I'm in the middle of two good books, and I want to read!

We took a long walk around the park after dinner..... just lovely - chatted with a few people, most here are actually from not very far away and they just come here for their vacation. There is a lake here, though no one was in it. They had this cool trampoline in the lake though. I've never seen one of these in FL, but how cool! Maybe it's because we have gators! haha 

And they don't have a thing on FL beaches....this is the beach area and it's like dirt, nothing like our sugar sand!

Tuesday we stayed home ALL DAY LONG - never moved the car! It was heavenly! The weather was beautiful! Starting out a little cool, where I'd have to take my chair and move it into the sun, and mid day it warmed up to about 80 and I was seeking the shade. Just perfect! That is until about 5:30 or so and suddenly these HUGE mosquitoes swarmed over us! YIKES! These things are BIG in Wisconsin! We got our books and drinks and hustled back into the RV where I cooked inside instead of grilling. We have to get some mosquito repellant!

Wednesday the 12th - we rode around and checked out Boulder Junction, Woodruff, Minnoqua and just LOVED all these little towns!
 

Going in and out of all these cute shops sure made me miss my shopping buddy, Sheila! Earl endured quite well, but it's not his favorite thing to do.
 

Here I decided to have a little chat with Paul Bunyan. He was very unresponsive.

 Isn't this a pretty truck?

Scenes from the area....

Tomorrow is a travel day! We'll be Michigan bound! That will be the last state on my map of the lower 48! As always, thanks to all of my friends who hang out with us on our adventures.